from degree programs in journalism to geography, and from environmental science to business administration, this year’s cohort not only represents schools across the country, but a wide variety of academic experiences, interests, and growing expertise.

they will be covering vital water stories, pivotal conservation decisions, and the centrally important role of environmental educators at universities across the country and around the world.

in a time of increasing challenges to environmental regulation and academic freedom, these students’ stories will reframe the narrative around sustainable innovations and community champions.

through the process of telling those stories, our correspondents will learn valuable communication, storytelling, interviewing, and multimedia technical skills that will buoy them into their future careers.

we’re so excited for you to experience these students’ upcoming work. this year is all about elevating the quality of storytelling like never before as we build to a thrilling storyfest contest (more information coming soon!) and then showcase multimedia exemplars at the 2026 summit in april (see more about our past summits).

we also will have increased opportunities for all planet forward contributors to apply for exciting experiential learning trips coming up this year. sign up for our weekly newsletter to see featured student stories and find out about upcoming planet forward-hosted opportunities and relevant external internships.

click on the profiles below to read each correspondent’s bio and stay tuned for more stories!

senior correspondents

abbey leibert

planet forward sr. correspondent | suny environmental science and forestry

correspondents

mario castroviejo

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | university of navarra

jey draper

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | teesside university

maximilian garibay-deasy

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | university of southern california

cameron glymph

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | florida state university

jayden hollins

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | johnson c. smith university

shayah kosak

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | middlebury college

sylvia leggette

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | tuskegee university

cecilia luce

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | northwestern university

alexia massoud

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | george washington university

andrew mccabe

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | george washington university

jenna outcalt

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | university of connecticut

kayla smernoff

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | columbia university, howard university

shaniya utamidata

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | rutgers university

bleary-eyed with steaming cups of coffee in hand, they set out with cameras, microphones, tripods, and a drone to document the biodiverse wilderness and report on the conservation projects of ted turner reserves, the owner and operator of the vermejo property.

vermejo spans more than 550,000 acres near the colorado border. across this gigantic parcel of land, the ecosystems vary from shortgrass prairie to pinyon-juniper woodlands to alpine environments and more. ted turner, founder of cnn, former owner of the braves and hawks, co-founder of the nuclear threat initiative and major donor to the un foundation — owns this property and many others like it across the united states.

his company, turner reserves, whose mission encompasses conservation, stewardship, and connecting guests with the natural world, was founded in 2019. 

planet forward previously partnered with turner reserves in 2022 to bring students to mcginley ranch in nebraska. now, we’ve teamed up again to introduce students from our 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 to an even larger, more majestic, and ecologically rich environment.

planet forward founding director frank sesno and i were joined by five motivated, committed, and creative students from an applicant pool of nearly 30. our students were josette chun, rising senior at middlebury college, andrew mccabe, rising senior at george washington university, kayla smernoff, recent graduate of howard university, colton young, rising junior at suny esf, and nicholas aguirre zafiro, recent graduate of george washington university.

following a detailed research period, these students were engaged in an intensive experiential learning process that tasked them to produce videos explaining and covering various conservation projects by ted turner reserves.

from riparian ecosystem preservation, to bison management, to the reintroduction of rio grande cutthroat trout, and more — their stories will create a window for planet forward viewers into one of the most remote and highly managed natural spaces in the united states.

on that early morning with cameras in hand, we set off and were immediately confronted with the striking beauty that conserved spaces offer. at just before 6am, the sun peaked over the far range of mountains and a huge herd of elk were spotted through the mist. bulls, does, and fawns were traversing the obscured terrain, milky dawn light bathing them in an otherworldly glow.

confronted with an unexpected wildlife encounter, the students quickly lifted their lenses towards this chance meeting with the cycle of life on full display. their training, preparation, and non-stop inquisitiveness placed them in that moment, ready and able to capture the beauty and bounty of an extraordinary place.

experiences like these can be transformative and, true to the turner reserves mission, can cultivate a driving commitment to the natural world. the planning, programming, and teaching that went into this trip has become one of my greatest sources of pride throughout my work with planet forward and i can’t wait for you to see our students’ pieces. i can’t thank frank sesno enough for his work teaching and inspiring these students, nor the programming and leadership teams at turner reserves whose support and guidance has been invaluable.

these students left changed by what they saw and experienced, and we hope that by viewing their stories, you (our readers) also come away with renewed drive to protect wild lands.

editor’s note: this series was made possible with the generous support of turner reserves and contributions by the turner family. all editorial content is published independently. 

planet forward’s environmental media lab led this expedition to teach the power of visual storytelling in wild spaces to convey the beauty and bounty of our planet.

students this year will create multimedia stories covering water issues, protection of our planet’s incredible biodiversity, the ways that conflict between stakeholders impacts environmental policies, and much more. in addition to showcasing each students’ creativity and depth of research, the stories will also capture their dedication to examine the change-makers, organizations, and innovations that 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 .

members of the planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 program go through an application process in order to be selected and represent their schools. this year’s applicants were particularly competitive and the students you see below have already dedicated considerable time and energy to this topic that informs every facet of the human experience.

i am thrilled to not only introduce our correspondents but also welcome our expanded editorial team which now includes planet forward associate director kim ossi to the correspondent mentorship role, as well as eli kintisch, george washington university ted turner professor of environmental media.

we can’t wait for you to read, watch, and listen to these students’ upcoming work and keep track of what this generation of inspiring and motivated storytellers are publishing. their voices are needed now more than ever and we can’t wait to bring you their insights. 

click on the profiles below to read each correspondent’s bio and stay tuned for more stories!

senior correspondents

eva kotobuki sideris

planet forward sr. correspondent | california state polytechnic university, humboldt

ciara thomas

planet forward sr. correspondent | tuskegee university

correspondents

kenneth andrews

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | texas tech university

kunjal bastola

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | northwestern university

abbey leibert

planet forward sr. correspondent | suny environmental science and forestry

paul leoni

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | george washington university

des lewis

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | florida state university

danny nicholson

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | teesside university

maggie rhoads

planet forward editorial assistant | george washington university

devin santikarma

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | middlebury college

mykah scott

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | tuskegee university

farron taijeron

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | university of guam

maría josé vargas

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | middlebury institute of international studies

on friday, june 14, 2024, three planet forward storyfest winners, along with founding director frank sesno and multimedia editor aaron dye set out for the galápagos islands aboard the national geographic endeavor ii with lindblad expeditions.

in the galápagos, the winners worked on new stories, reporting straight from the islands of baltra, isabela, fernandina, rabida, north seymour, and more. from investigating the role of local ecuadorians in leading the conservation of the islands, to the use of drone technologies to count marine iguana populations, the students’ stories will capture both the timeless results of evolution, and the next chapter of conservation. 

george washington university president ellen m. granberg and her spouse, sonya rankin, joined the expedition. they spent time with the students during the storytelling process and learned more, alongside the rest of us, about conservation, climate change, and the extraordinary efforts to protect the biodiversity of the galapagos. gw trustee michelle rubin and her sister, caren, joined the expedition as well. trustee rubin and her sister traveled to iceland with planet forward last year.

as they hiked the islands and dove into the clear waters to see sea lions, sea turtles, iguanas and fish, the planet forward students experienced this unique and abundant “natural laboratory of evolution.”  at the same time, the students had moments of somber reflection as they saw the iguana die-off caused by el niño and visited the final resting place of the famous lonesome george, the pinta island tortoise who was the living specimen of his subspecies. 

still, hope abounds at the fausto llerena breeding center where lonesome george is preserved.  the center has had amazing success at breeding and reintroducing the remaining tortoise subspecies back into their respective islands. 

with masterful guidance from the endeavor ii’s team of naturalists and lindblad expeditions‘ attention to crafting a rich, educational experience, we could not be more grateful for the continued support for our students to have these amazing opportunities. 

just as the islands seem to sprout from the ocean that surrounds them for hundreds of miles, the galápagos national park serves as inspiration for what can be accomplished when humans take conservation seriously and implement rigorous environmental policies. 

this was a trip that we will never forget.  the students are working on their stories now. you will see them soon. we think you will find them fascinating, informative, and inspiring – like the galapagos themselves.  

planet forward’s ongoing partnership with lindblad expeditions makes this opportunity possible for students who get to not only experience an amazing corner of the world on state-of-the-art vessels, but also work hands-on with planet forward staff to produce stories on the intriguing issues facing different parts of the world, and the exciting solutions being developed to address our planet’s most dire challenges.

you can read the winners’ stories from iceland in our series, transforming iceland: where sustainability meets growth.

storyfest is open to all undergraduate and graduate students around the world. this year’s categories will include best video, best multimedia story, and best written story. podcasts and audio stories will be considered under the multimedia category. two winners will be selected in each category, one who is a media/communications major or minor, and one who is not a media/communications major (e.g., in a stem field, law, business, etc.).

you can enter storyfest 2024 now for a chance to win a trip with planet forward and lindblad expeditions to either the galápagos or iceland in the summer of 2024.

editor’s note: lindblad expeditions, our planet forward storyfest competition partner, made this series possible by providing winners with an experiential learning opportunity aboard one of their ships. icelandair also generously provided airfare to the competition winners. all editorial content is created independently. we thank lindblad expeditions and icelandair for their support of our project.

this year’s correspondents went through a competitive application process in order to be selected for the program and represent their schools on planet forward. the students come not only from across the country this time around, but some hail from schools around the world. with 15 schools represented, the year’s cohort is the most far ranging we’ve ever featured.

our senior correspondents have applied to continue to the program for an additional year and will be focused on producing cover stories of broader scope, depth, and creativity.

the editorial themes this year will include food systems, water & oceans, mobility & electrification, and more. we can’t wait for you to read, watch, and listen to these students’ upcoming work and keep track of what this generation of inspiring and motivated storytellers are publishing. their voices are needed now more than ever and we can’t wait to bring you their insights.

click on the profiles below to read each correspondent’s bio and stay tuned for more stories!

our 2023-2024 senior correspondents

sachi kitajima mulkey

planet forward sr. correspondent | university of california, berkeley

owen volk

planet forward sr. correspondent | suny environmental science and forestry

chris zatarain

planet forward sr. correspondent | university of arizona

our 2023-2024 correspondents

wole adegbule

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | obafemi awolowo university ile-ife

darrien benally

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | northern arizona university

tyler hickman

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | university of colorado boulder

maggie liddell

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | suny environmental science and forestry

kamryn you mak

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | middlebury college

charlie mark

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | george washington university

libby mohn

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | middlebury institute of international studies

emma montgomery

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | texas tech university

samyudha rajesh

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | george washington university

joy reeves

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | duke university

astry rodriguez

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | northwestern university

micah seidel

planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 | rutgers university

ciara thomas

planet forward sr. correspondent | tuskegee university

each year, planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 s go through an extremely competitive application process and this year we certainly had many more amazing candidates than we could accommodate. this year’s team comes from 12 different universities, with diverse backgrounds and experience. the cohort you’ll meet here are some of the brightest and most inspiring young environmental communicators and we can’t wait for you to see, hear, and read their work.

learn more below and follow the link at the bottom to read some of their past work.

our 2022-2023 senior correspondents:

• halley hughes, university of arizona
• carter weinhofer, eckerd college

our 2022-2023 correspondents:

• tiya cantrell, tuskegee university
• eric forbes, colorado state university
• hannah krantz, george washington university
• adriana martinez-smiley, northwestern university
• sachi mulkey, university of california-berkeley
• vidya muthupillai, george washington university
• julia paige-carter, arizona state university
• katie perkins, texas tech university
• joshua rosenstein, middlebury college
• eva sideris, suny-esf
• ciara thomas, tuskegee university
• owen volk, suny-esf
• chris zatarain, university of arizona

you can follow their work on the correspondent story hub. look for stories to begin publishing soon, and see some of our senior correspondents’ work from last year.